Koo Kien Keat (; born 18 September 1985) is a Malaysian former professional badminton player. He succeeded in both men's and mixed doubles and in his partnership with Tan Boon Heong he reached a career high ranking of world number 1.
Career In 2004, he played in the Thomas Cup with Chew Choon Eng. They gave a strong performance during the second doubles match against Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian of Indonesia in the quarter-finals. However, after the tournament, the Badminton Association of Malaysia decided to partner him with Chan Chong Ming who previously partnered Choon Eng. Later, they won the bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships.
In 2006, Koo's coach, Rexy Mainaky, decided to paired him with the hard-hitting left-hander Tan Boon Heong. Together, they won the gold medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games as an unseeded pair. En route to the finals, they defeated several top pairs including Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia. They are the youngest ever men's doubles pair to win an Asian Games gold medal at the age of 22 and 19 respectively. 2007 was the best year for Koo and Tan. They won several Superseries tournaments and climbed to the top of world rankings. They also won their first All England Superseries title after beating Chinese pair, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in straight games.
In 2009, the two won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships. At the 2010 BWF World Championships, the pair entered the semifinals after beating Korean rivals Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae. In the semifinals they defeated China's Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen 21-14, 21-18. Tan and Koo became the first Malaysian pair to enter a World Championship final in 13 years. In the finals, they played China's Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng but lost 21-18, 18-21, 14-21.
In 2010, they won their first title of the year in their home, Malaysia, as the world number 1 pair. They came in seeded number 1 in the All England Open but lost in the first round to Denmark former world champions Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen.
In the 2010 BWF World Championships, they beat the young Chinese pair of Chai Biao and Zhang Nan in the quarter-finals and later their arch rivals, the South Koreans Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae, in 3 sets to reach the semi-finals. After that, they beat another Chinese pair of Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen to reach their first ever finals in World Championship. The only other Malaysian pair to reach that far before them were Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock.
At the 2011 All England Open, Koo and Tan defeated 2008 Olympic champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan in the quarterfinals. They then defeated World champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21-11, 23-21. They lost to the Danes and then world number 1 Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21-15, 18-21, 18-21.
In 2012, they competed at the 2012 London Olympics, reaching the semi-finals losing to the eventual gold medalists, and then losing in the bronze medal match to the Koreans. In 2013, they suffered a series of early round exits in 2013 and a three-year major title drought but managed to remain in the top 10 of the world rankings. In 2014, Koo parted with the Badminton Association of Malaysia and became a coach for the Granular Club of Thailand in early 2014. In August that year, Koo returned to play his last tournament with Tan at the 2014 BWF World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. Their supposedly last match together was in the third round where they lost to a Chinese Taipei pair with a score of 19-21 in the deciding game.
In 2015, Koo announced that he is coming out of retirement to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics with Tan before they call it quits for good. They were sponsored by Seri Mutiara Development Sdn Bhd and playing for an independent club. They achieved several breakthroughs this year, winning the Dutch Open and finishing as runners-up at the Thailand Open. They also made it to two Superseries quarterfinals in Australia and Korea.
In 2016, Koo and Tan managed to enter the top 15 of the world rankings. However, due to the new Olympic qualification requirement set by the BWF whereby each country can send two representatives for each event only if they are both in the top 8 of the world rankings in their discipline and if they are not then only the highest ranked representative will contest, Koo and Tan narrowly failed to qualify for the Olympics. By the time the qualification period had ended, the two were ranked world number 14, just one rank behind compatriots Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong who were selected instead and went on to win the silver medal. In November, Koo re-announced his retirement from professional badminton, citing the Hong Kong Open as his last tournament.
Achievements
BWF World Championships Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2005 Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, United States Chan Chong Ming Sigit Budiarto Candra Wijaya 9–15, 11–15 Bronze 2009 Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, India Tan Boon Heong Jung Jae-sung Lee Yong-dae 21–16, 14–21, 20–22 Bronze 2010 Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Paris, France Tan Boon Heong Cai Yun Fu Haifeng 21–18, 18–21, 14–21 Silver
Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2006 Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad, Madrid, Spain Wong Pei Tty Anthony Clark Donna Kellogg 14–21, 12–21 Bronze
Commonwealth Games Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2006 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia Chan Chong Ming Choong Tan Fook Wong Choong Hann 21–13, 21–14 Gold 2010 Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi, India Tan Boon Heong Anthony Clark Nathan Robertson 21–19, 21–14 Gold
Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2010 Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi, India Chin Eei Hui Nathan Robertson Jenny Wallwork 22–20, 21–12 Gold
Asian Games Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2006 Aspire Hall 3, Doha, Qatar Tan Boon Heong Luluk Hadiyanto Alvent Yulianto 21–13, 21–14 Gold 2010 Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China Tan Boon Heong Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan 21–16, 24–26, 19–21 Silver
Asian Championships Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2007 Bandaraya Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Tan Boon Heong Choong Tan Fook Lee Wan Wah 14–21, 21–11, 12–21 Silver 2008 Bandaraya Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Tan Boon Heong Jung Jae-sung Lee Yong-dae 21–16, 16–21, 18–21 Bronze
Southeast Asian Games Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2005 PhilSports Arena, Metro Manila, Philippines Chan Chong Ming Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan 13–15, 13–15 Bronze 2009 Gym Hall 1, National Sports Complex, Vientiane, Laos Tan Boon Heong Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan 17–21, 17–21 Silver
Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2005 PhilSports Arena, Metro Manila, Philippines Wong Pei Tty Anggun Nugroho Yunita Tetty 9–15, 5–15 Bronze 2009 Gym Hall 1, National Sports Complex, Vientiane, Laos Wong Pei Tty Nova Widianto Liliyana Natsir 15–21, 15–21 Bronze
World Junior Championships Boys' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2002 Pretoria Showgrounds, Pretoria, South Africa Ong Soon Hock Han Sang-hoon Park Sung-hwan 15–7, 8–15, 4–15 Bronze
Asian Junior Championships Boys' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2002 Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Ong Soon Hock Han Sang-hoon Kim Dae-sung 15–13, 15–13 Gold
Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2002 Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Wong Wai See Cao Chen Rong Lu 4–11, 6–11 Bronze
BWF Superseries The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.
Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2007 Malaysia Open Tan Boon Heong Tony Gunawan Candra Wijaya 21–15, 21–18 Winner 2007 All England Open Tan Boon Heong Cai Yun Fu Haifeng 21–15, 21–18 Winner 2007 Swiss Open Tan Boon Heong Jens Eriksen Martin Lundgaard Hansen 17–21, 21–16, 21–12 Winner 2007 Denmark Open Tan Boon Heong Jens Eriksen Martin Lundgaard Hansen 14–21, 21–14, 21–12 Winner 2008 World Superseries Masters Finals Tan Boon Heong Jung Jae-sung Lee Yong-dae 21–18, 21–14 Winner 2009 Swiss Open Tan Boon Heong Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen 21–14, 21–18 Winner 2009 Denmark Open Tan Boon Heong Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen 20–22, 21–14, 21–17 Winner 2009 French Open Tan Boon Heong Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan 21–15, 15–21, 14–21 Runner-up 2009 China Open Tan Boon Heong Jung Jae-sung Lee Yong-dae 13–21, 21–19, 18–21 Runner-up 2010 Malaysia Open Tan Boon Heong Guo Zhendong Xu Chen 21–15, 17–21, 21–16 Winner 2010 Swiss Open Tan Boon Heong Ko Sung-hyun Yoo Yeon-seong 18–21, 16–21 Runner-up 2010 Japan Open Tan Boon Heong Cai Yun Fu Haifeng 21–18, 14–21, 12–21 Runner-up 2011 All England Open Tan Boon Heong Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen 21–15, 18–21, 18–21 Runner-up 2012 Japan Open Tan Boon Heong Kim Gi-jung Kim Sa-rang 16–21, 19–21 Runner-up 2012 Denmark Open Tan Boon Heong Shin Baek-choel Yoo Yeon-seong 21–19, 11–21, 19–21 Runner-up 2012 Hong Kong Open Tan Boon Heong Cai Yun Fu Haifeng 16–21, 17–21 Runner-up 2013 French Open Tan Boon Heong Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Markis Kido 16–21, 18–21 Runner-up BWF Superseries Finals tournament BWF Superseries Premier tournament BWF Superseries tournament
BWF Grand Prix The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006.
Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2004 Chinese Taipei Open Chan Chong Ming Hendra Aprida Gunawan Joko Riyadi 6–15, 15–13, 15–6 Winner 2005 Denmark Open Chan Chong Ming Lars Paaske Jonas Rasmussen 15–6, 15–7 Winner 2006 Swiss Open Chan Chong Ming Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen 17–14, 8–15, 17–14 Winner 2006 Malaysia Open Chan Chong Ming Mohd Fairuzizuan Tazari Lin Woon Fui 14–21, 21–11, 21–17 Winner 2006 Japan Open Tan Boon Heong Tony Gunawan Candra Wijaya 15–21, 14–21 Runner-up 2007 Philippines Open Tan Boon Heong Guo Zhendong Xie Zhongbo 21–8, 26–24 Winner 2007 Macau Open Tan Boon Heong Choong Tan Fook Lee Wan Wah 21–18, 17–21, 23–21 Winner 2008 Macau Open Tan Boon Heong Fang Chieh-min Lee Sheng-mu 21–16, 21–18 Winner 2009 Malaysia Grand Prix Gold Tan Boon Heong Gan Teik Chai Tan Bin Shen 21–11, 21–13 Winner 2009 Macau Open Tan Boon Heong Choong Tan Fook Lee Wan Wah 21–14, 17–21, 21–12 Winner 2011 Malaysia Grand Prix Gold Tan Boon Heong Hendra Aprida Gunawan Alvent Yulianto 21–16, 21–7 Winner 2012 Malaysia Grand Prix Gold Tan Boon Heong Chooi Kah Ming Ow Yao Han 21–15, 21–19 Winner 2013 Malaysia Grand Prix Gold Tan Boon Heong Goh V Shem Lim Khim Wah 20–22, 15–21 Runner-up 2015 Thailand Open Tan Boon Heong Wahyu Nayaka Ade Yusuf 22–20, 21–23, 16–21 Runner-up 2015 Dutch Open Tan Boon Heong Manu Attri B. Sumeeth Reddy 21–15, 21–10 Winner 2016 Malaysia Masters Tan Boon Heong Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 21–18, 13–21, 18–21 Runner-up 2016 Vietnam Open Tan Boon Heong Lee Jhe-huei Lee Yang 21–18, 14–21, 7–21 Runner-up
Mixed doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2004 Singapore Open Wong Pei Tty Nova Widianto Liliyana Natsir 1–15, 4–15 Runner-up 2004 Chinese Taipei Open Wong Pei Tty Muhammad Rijal Endang Nursugianti 15–3, 15–5 Winner BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament
BWF International Challenge/Series Men's doubles